Gov. Frank Murkowski imposed a state hiring freeze Wednesday because of the millions of dollars in revenue Alaska is losing as a result of the Prudhoe Bay oil field shutdown, and said he would support hearings into BP's maintenance practices.The governor also said he would direct Alaska's attorney general to investigate whether the state could hold the oil giant fully accountable for the state's losses.Earlier this week, BP said it would shut down Prudhoe Bay -- the biggest oil field in the nation -- because of a small leak and severe pipeline corrosion. Energy officials have said the pipeline repairs are likely to take months, curtailing Alaskan production into next year.The expected loss of 400,000 barrels per day at today's oil prices means the state is losing about $6.4 million a day in royalties and taxes, Revenue Commissioner Bill Corbus said.... http://www.cnn.com

"Zero tolerance" discipline policies that are enforced widely in U.S. schools are backfiring: They may be promoting misbehavior and making students feel more anxious, the American Psychological Association (APA) said Wednesday.The group called for more flexibility and common sense in applying the policies, reserving zero tolerance for the most serious threats to school safety. Zero-tolerance policies spread in the 1990s as a tool to fight drug use and violence on campuses. Schools often suspend or expel students for having weapons or drugs, which can include over-the-counter medicine, says educational psychologist Cecil Reynolds of Texas A&M University. Verbal threats, fighting or sexual harassment also can get kids booted, he says. "There are cases such as the kindergarten boy who hugged two classmates. His teacher reported him for sexual harassment, and he was suspended."...http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-08-09-zero-tolerance_x.htm?csp=34

Three American soldiers were killed Wednesday in the Sunni insurgent area west of Baghdad, and Iraqi officials said about 1,500 people died violently last month in the capital - many shot execution-style by sectarian death squads. The soldiers were assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, a U.S. statement said. The brigade operates around Ramadi, capital of Anbar province where support for the Sunni insurgency is strong. In addition, two Americans were missing Wednesday after a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter went down the day before in Anbar province. The helicopter crashed in an unspecified body of water and divers were searching for the missing troops, the military said. The crash was not due to hostile fire, the U.S. said. ...http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6004665,00.html

Cities and villages in south and western India found themselves under water yesterday after monsoon rains lashed the country, forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.India's annual drenching, which is crucial for the 600 million people who live off the land, caused reservoirs to overflow and rivers to swell in five states. The result was floods that have killed almost 200 people in the last eight days and submerged fields, villages and towns. The rising waters forced the closure of a natural gas plant and petrochemical factories in the western city of Hazira in Gujarat. Low-lying areas of Mumbai, India's commercial capital, were also under water. The death toll in Maharashtra, the state of which Mumbai is the capital, topped 60, with 105,000 people displaced.In Goa the state government sounded flood alerts in areas close to its dams....http://www.guardian.co.uk/india/story/0,,1840828,00.html

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert put plans for an expanded Lebanon offensive on hold on Thursday to give a chance for U.S.-led efforts to form a peacekeeper force that could curb Hizbollah, a newspaper said. ...http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060810/ts_nm/mideast_lebanon_suspension_dc

Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski on Wednesday suggested that BP Plc misled the state with satisfactory maintenance reports and launched an investigation into the oil giant's handling of its pipeline corrosion. Pipeline corrosion forced BP to halt production at its Prudhoe Bay field and the company is studying whether it needs to shut down the entire 400,000 barrels-per-day field, which accounts for 8 percent of U.S. output. The Republican governor said Alaska's attorney general is looking into possible enforcement actions, including a demand for lost tax revenues while the field is shut down. After "numerous" satisfactory maintenance reports to the state in the past that oil-field pipeline corrosion was being adequately controlled, BP abruptly decided to shut down all of Prudhoe Bay without consulting the state, Murkowski said. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2294356